Method of producing helical brushes



ct. 4, 1949. v. F- DAL-E METHOD OF PRODUCING HELICAL BRUSHES Filed Feb. :5, 1945 llllllll Illli- Patented Oct. 4, 1949 UNITED STATES PATENT. OFFICE' 2,483,627 METHOD OF PRODUCING HELICAL BRUSHES Vernon F. Dale, Onalaska, Wis.

Application February 3, 1945, Serial No. 576,033

Claims. 1

The present invention relates in general to improvements in the art of brush making, and relates more specifically to an improved twisted brush assemblage and to an improved method of producing such brushes.

The primary object of my invention is to provide an improved method of manufacturing better and more durable elongated longitudinally twisted brushes, than has heretofore been possible, in a more expeditious and simplified manner.

It has long been common commercial practice in the brush making industry, to manufacture elongated helical brushes by inserting batches of bristles in layer formation between two approximately parallel rods or wires, and by thereafter twisting the wires about each other so as to dispose the bristles in helical arrangement along and to retain them between the twisted wires. It has also heretofore been proposed to produce cylindrical gun barrel cleaning brushes of the twisted type having helical groups of metallic bristles confined between twisted metal wires, by feeding an elongated fiat layer or ribbon of the metallic bristle stock between the prongs or wires each applied in U-shaped formation to a brush mounting and manipulating element or tip, and by thereafter cutting off successive sections of the bristle stock and twisting the complementary wire prongs so as to hold the bristles rather loosely in place. The bristles used in this more recent method, are ordinarily formed of relatively hard bronze while the wires are of comparatively softer metal, and in order to facilitate application of the wires to the tips, the latter are provided with.

transverse holes, and with longitudinal grooves extending away from the opposite ends of each hole and in which the looped end of the adjacent twisted wire finally becomes anchored.

After several years of commercial use of this prior method of manufacturing gun cleaning brushes, I have discovered that the brushes so produced were relatively defective or objectionable for several reasons. In the first place, the original method did not provide for proper staking or positive positioning of the bristles relative to the wire prongs between which they were ulti mately confined, and the bristle layers would lose j their regularity and would bunch up locally during the final twisting operation, and many of the individual bristles were finally improperly clamped and could be readily pulled out from between their twisted confining wires or prongs;

In the second place, this prior commercial method,

did not provide for proper formation of the loops so that when the prongs were finally twisted about each other, the twisting action would not progress uniformly from both ends of each brush, and the looped ends of the twisted wires would be severely stressed and would break in actual use, due to the excessive rigidity between the wires and the corresponding tips to which they were attached. In the third place, this prior method of manufacturing gun cleaning brushes, failed to make provision for uniform initial distribution of the bristles along the wire prongs, prior to clamping and staking of bristles between the prongs; and it was also difficult with the previous method, to insure clean cutting of the hard bristles from the ribbon stock.

In order to make a gun cleaning brush of this type most practicable and durable, the bristles must be uniformly distributed, spaced, and firmly clamped in place, and sufiicient wire stock should be provided at the looped end of each wire so as to insure uniform twisting of the prongs throughout their lengths without weakening theloops. The final brushes should also be of substantially identical construction and of uniform dimensions, and should be capable of being manufactured in rapid succession at relatively low cost; and none of these desirable features were adequately provided for in the previous production method above referred to.

It is therefore a more specific object of this invention to provide an improved method of producing elongated cylindrical and longitudinally twisted brushes in a manner whereby the bristles are most effectively staked or uniformly spaced,

and are firmly held against subsequent displacement.

Another specific object of the present invention is to provide an improved method of producing tip mounted helicall twisted brushes in a manner whereby uniform twisting of the wire prongs is made possible throughout the entire length of each brush, without undesirably stressing the connections between the tips and the bristle confining wires.

A further specific object of the present invention is to provide an improved method of producing brushes from a ribbon of bristle stock or the like, whereby the bristles of the stock ribbon are thoroughly and uniformly distributed throughout the entire area of the ribbon, before these bristles are clamped between their final retaining wires.

7 Still another specific object of my invention is to provide an improved method of rapidly and effectively manufacturing twisted brushes Whereby a vastly improved product results.

An additional specific object of the invention is to provide an improved method of producing brush assemblages which is simple and durable in construction, and which is moreover highly efiicient in use.

Another specific object of this invention is to provide a new and useful method of constructing simple and durable twisted brushes the structure of which may be rapidly and accurately reproduced at moderate cost and in diverse sizes. m

These and other specific sbjeets anaadvsm tages of my present invention will be apparent from the following detailed description.

A clear conception of the'cbristructiohofthe improved brushes produced with the aid of this invention, and of the steps involved in'rny rmproved production method, may be had by referring to the drawing accompanying and forniing a part of this specification wherein like reference characters designateth'e' same or similar parts in thevarious views. V I

Fig. '1 is an enlarged "side elevation of atypical wire and tip asserriblage usedin theproduc'tion army improvedbrushes Fig. 2'is asiinilarly enlarged part sectional el'e vationof the sameass'mbla'ge viewed at right angles to tneplane of Fig? 1;

3 'isa diagrammatic perspective view o'f a simple assemblage of elm'erits 'employed in carryin on the improvedineth'od, snowing-a wire and tip assembngeor thetype disclosed in- Figs.

1 and 2 initially applied to aribbon or bristle stock;

Fig. 4" isan' enlarged fragmentary sectional view illustrating the first step-issue formation of the loop attachment connecting the bristle clamping wire to the manipulating=tip;=

Fig; 5 is a' view 'similarto that ofFig." 4; illustrating the second step involvedin the formation of the" attaching-loop;

Fig. '6 is-another view similar'to thnse'o'f Figs: 4 and 5', illustrating-the third loop forming step' oroperation;

Fig. "I is a further enlarged fragmentary side view of a pair of cooperating wireprongsshowing a group'of bristles'staked-"a'nd clamped therebe tween just prior to final twisting of the brush; v

Fig. 8 is a sideielevation of a completed brush made with the aid-of my improved method; and illustrating the final loop connection between the bristle confining prongs and the manipulating Fig; 9'is avfragmentarytransverse vertical section through a more refined and modified ribbon combing, bristle staking; and cut=off assemblage; and

V F 0 a d a rammat nt evet ee q i e modified bristle combing and staking assemblage ofFig. 9. p y W s Whilei have -spec ifically' illustrated and'de scribed my improved method as being'aslvanta geo'u'sly applicable in'the production of nests gun cleaning brushes each having metallic bristles" clamped between the twisted prongs of a U sh'a'ped retaining wire whichiscbnriected to a mahipulatingtip by meansjor an integral loop, it 'is'not" my 'desire' or intension to unnecessarily rfestrict'all'ie'ature -of the invention to thep'ro' dficti'on of this particular typeoi brushes;

'acbordancewith the simplest embodiment of the present invention illustrated in Figs. l't Binelusive; when iiioduffihhefifi brushes efthe same predetermined size, I first provide a plurality of brush tips 12 each having a threaded shank l3 at one end adapted to be screwed into the end socket of an ordinary manipulating rod, and also having a transverse through opening l4 and parallel grooves l5 extending longitudinally of the tip l2 away from the shank l3 and from the 0pposite ends of the opening l4. These tips l2 may be rapidly and accurately produced inan ordinary screw machine; and a relatively soft wire l6 of suitable pre-selected length and of lesser diameter than that of the openings H3, should thereafter be inserted through each of these tip epenmgs' lfand should be subsequently bent into U shap e to provide elongated laterally spaced substantially Straight prongs H, as shown in Figs. 1, 2, 3 and 4;

An elongated ribbon [8 formed of a multiplicity ofrelativ'ly hard bristle wires l9 extending longitudinally of the ribbon I8, is also provided, and thisrlbbon leis 'sdapted to be fed forwardlybetween a lower die and an upper punch'or plunger 21; against a' stop plate '22, in any con: veni'ent manner; as illustrated-in Fig. 3; The-die 23 and the punch plunger 2| are provided with alineable staking recesses 23- extending thereacross; and'preferably' have"curvedlower' side edges 24; and the plunger 21 may be reciprocated vertically toward and away from the normally fixe'djdie 20; in any suitable manner. The lower die 29 may also be retracted from its active fixed position in any suitable manner; and a cutknife 25 coacts with the; rear face of the plunger 2]; and is movable relative to this plunger 1 while alsobcing cooperable with the rearupper edge of the die 20, in order to sever successive lengths oi bristle stock from the forwardend; of the ribbon l8 alongthe dot-and-dash line shown i n Fig. 3. order to cause the knife 25' to produce a clean draw cut, thecutting edge of the page is preferably inclined at a slight ang of approximately as illustrated n Fig; 3; afid'it 'isto be unaerstood'that the ribbon ltl" ust beffed io'rwar'dlyby iime'mems equal tqthe' stretc er-cup o'fibristlesfsvei'ed therefrom he kn'ife zsflastne successive brushes are sample es eeme .7 H

N Located on one side orthe pu nen'and are" as "bl s; ,isia sejt or rionjro t atable'loop camp-.- ing an tip holdingjaw's 21, the motion of which reward the die 29 is restrained by a Weight 22%- s' ispenqed nor a cable 29 c'oacting with a sheave. 3 0 while a set of rotary prong'i clamping and brus twistingjaws 3 is dispose'd'in axial ante: me t with the'ja'ws 21pm the opposite ide oi the die- 2p; These jaws 21; 3| erect Wellknown construction;and may be manipulated inariy coiieei m and sui ble n r by t emn r ri rmth i -int d u scn at th proper momentgfan d while thei jajw lime-comes active to firially' form th'eloops which-connect the prbngsll with the-tips ll. before the punch 2 I and die Zll'hafve bee'n ret'racted, the twisting jawsil only'becoifie a'ctiveto erform twisting operations I aite'r the unch and die assembly has'been ree enurfiighonnal operation of the mechanism above "described, when carrying onmy'im reved method, the previoesiy prepared bristle 'Stb'cR ribbon |8' should'ha'v its extremeiro'nt end positioned over the die n and against the step plate 24 asinaiated in Fig. 3, whereu on were-as; sifibled wireaiifi tip asslfibly such as sh'O'Wh in Figs; land 2; may be ositioned with "olidp'lohfi narspessd" the recess 23* or the an 20 v and with its other prong I! in vertical alinement with the recess 23 of the plunger 2|. The initially assembled wire [6 and tip I2 will appear as shown in enlargement in Fig. 4, and after an assemblage has been thus initially applied to the end of the stock ribbon l8 and to the die 20, the plunger 2| should be lowered as illustrated in Fig. 5, so as tocompress the mass of bristles I 9 and to cause the outer bristles of the mass to produce spacing or staking indentations 32 in the prongs IT. This compression of the mass of bristles l9 and production of the indentations 32, will cause the rounded edge portions 24 of the die and plunger 2| to produce a substantially circular loop at the closed end of the U-shaped wire I6, as clearly shown in Fig. 5; and after this rounded loop has been formed and while the prongs I! are still firmly clamped between the punch and die, the jaws 21 should be brought into action against the rounded loop of the wire l6 as illustrated in Fig. 6. When the jaws 2'! are thus brought into action and drive the loop of the wire into the grooves I5 of the tip l2, the excess stock of the loop is pushed away from the jaws 21 and provides twisting stock beyond the tip H as clearly shown in Fig. 6. After the final loop has been formed as depicted in Fig. 6, the jaws 3| may be caused to engage the protruding free ends of the prongs l1 and to firmly clamp these free ends together, whereupon the knife 25 may be caused to sever the group of bristles which are clamped between the prongs H from the stock ribbon H3. The die 20 and plunger 2| may thereafter be withdrawn and the jaw 3| may be rotated to twist the prongs I! about each other. During this twisting operation the indentations 32 will prevent the relatively short bristles I9 from shifting longitudinally of the prongs l1, and the excess stock provided at the looped end of the wire l6 as in Fig. 6, will permit the rotating jaw 3| to gradually and uniformly twist the two prongs I! about each other throughout their entire length, thus firmly and permanently clamping the bristles between the prongs and arranging them in helical formation as illustrated in Fig. 8. The weight 28 will permit the jaws 27 to move toward the twisting zone, and will eventually cause the wire prongs I! to break off at the outer end of the brush as illustrated in Fig. 8, thereby completin the brush assemblage.

While the relatively simple apparatus shown in Figs. 3, 5 and 6 has been utilized commercially to produce highly satisfactory results when the stock ribbons I8 have been carefully prepared, it has been found that even with most careful initial preparation of these ribbons l8, the bristles are not uniformly distributed thereacross. In order to obviate this difilculty, I have provided a modified punch assemblage such as shown diagrammatically in Figs. 9 and 10 and comprising rear and front combing plates 33, 34 respectively carried by the punch ram 35 and which are normally forced outwardly beyond the lower end of the staking plunger 2| by compression springs 36. The rear combing plate 33 is preferably confined with its lower combing edge inclined in one direction, while the front plate has its combing edge inclined in the opposite direction; and when the ram 35 is lowered, the plates 33, 34 will resiliently engage the bristle stock l8 before the plunger 2| becomes active to clamp the bristles between the prongs l1, thereby combing or leveling the successive batches of loose bristles l9 into uniform layers before the staking operation takes place. In this manner subsequent uniform distribution and accurate spacing of the indentations 32 during staking, is always assured, and the production of better final brushes therefore results.

From the foregoing detailed description it will be apparent that my present invention provides vastly improved final brush structures, and also provides an extremel simple and highly efficient method of commercially producing such brushes in rapid succession. The initial uniform distribution of the bristles I9 throughout the area of each batch, is important in order to produce uniform and accurate distribution of the staking indentations 32, and the formation of the indentations 32 for the purpose of spacing and staking the bristles is extremely important in order to prevent the production of brushes having loose bristles and in which the bristles can be pulled out of the clamping zone between the twisted prongs With my improved method of manufacturing the brushes, the bristles l9 are in fact locked in place and cannot be pulled from between the twisted prongs H, but since the metal used in the bristles I9 is relatively hard as compared to that used in the prongs H, the bristles are not undesirably weakened at the zone of clamping. The formation of the loops at the closed ends of the U-shaped wire l6 so as to provide twisting stock beyond the ends of the tips I2, is also of considerable importance in providing brushes in which the twisting action proceeds from both ends of the prongs II. By providing for such progression of the twisting action, the looped ends of the wires l6 are not excessively stressed and a stronger brush structure obviously results. By forming the loops in accordance with my improved method, some flexibility is also provided between the tips l2 and the brush proper, thus permitting the helical rows of bristles E9 to more effectively cooperate with the gun bores on which they are used. The provision of the rounded corners 24 on the die 28 and punch 2!, is also relatively important because these rounded corners prevent weakening of the prongs adjacent to the loops, and aid in forming the round loops which are subsequently flattened by the clamping jaws 21. The inclined disposition of the cutting edge of the knife 25 also cooperates with the combing plates 33, 34 to uniformly distribute the bristles and to produce a clean out without dislodging the bristles l9 from their spacing indentations 32, thus making it unnecessary to subsequently trim the ends of the brush bristles in the final assemblages. The present improved method therefore obviously makes it possible to produce better brushes than were heretofore possible, in rapid succession and at relatively low cost, and all features of the invention have gone into highly successful commercial use and have proven of great utility.

While the method of staking the bristles described herein has been confined to the use of bristles l3 which are in fact harder than the prongs l1 between which the bristles are ultimately confined, this method of staking may also be utilized in connection with bristles which are in fact softer than their confining wires. The same type of apparatus may be utilized when thus staking the softer bristles, and the ultimate results are the same as when harder bristles are in fact used.

It should be understood that it is not desired to limit this invention to the exact steps of the method, or to the exact details of construction of the brushes, herein d's eirthe spam; siliee ve ifies moalfieatiens' thih scope of tn'e stonendea cmnns met to persensslnllea in the art.

l. The method of producing helical brushes,

whicl'i comprises, fixing a; tip having a tr:

Verse thru-opening toa relativeli soft W1 inserting a length of the' wire 'thr'cmgh the-tin opening and bending the wire to rirliiiide elon gated'pron'gs extending away from the'tip, dis: posing the prongs on opposite sides of slayer 6f haldef bristles eX'tnding tfafiSVT'slY Of the" rongs, pressing the prongs against the interve'nihg' bristle layer to cause the" outer bristles of the layer to form spacing indentations intlie-softer Wire, and finally twisting the prongs about each other to clamp the bristles th'erebefweenin helical formation.

2. The method of producing helical brushes, which Comprises bending a wire into u-shape haV- ing' relatively soft elongated spaced prongs, inserting 'a layer of harder'bristles between the prongs, pressing theiprongs against the inter venme bristles with 's'uficient folfie to Cause the outer bristles t'o indent the prongs, and finally twisting the prongs about each other to lock the'bristles therebetwe'en in helical formation.

3. The method of pr'odiicing helical brushes, which comprises, arranging a multiplicity of relati'ilel'y Hard bi'istlesin ribbon formatioh w ith the bristles'disposed longitudinally of the ribbon, positio'fiihgi'elaltivelj sbft'wiiesbn Opposite sides of and'acress-the ribbon, ressing the wires against the ribbon with sufficient force to cause the bristles to indent the wires; severing the compresse'db'atch of bristles from the ribbon, and.

twisting'the wires about each other.

4 The method of producing helical brushes, which comprises, arranging a multiplicity of 8 bfi's'tles iii ribbonformatieili plti'eiiig tvjirejs on 613 posits sides or and across th ribbon; coihb' gfthef ribbon adjacent to the wire se'asto umroimly' distribute the bristles throil'ghofit' the We lengths, pressing the wires against the pointed bristles with sulnciefit force in cause the bristles to prodiie'eiaeiri'g indent tions m the W1 s; severing the kissedbatch of bfistl'S-flfifilth VERNON'F-QDKLET REFERENCES GIT-Eb The renewing ferences new record ih'the' file of this patent:

' UNI -"re-DsQTifr-Es PAT-ems 

